The Unconquerable Castle on the Hill: Castillo San Felipe de Barajas in Cartagena
You know those geeky looking people you see on self-guided tours wearing the oversize, dorky black earflap headphones and squinting at their maps? That was us, complete with the big audio recorder that hung around our necks like a lead weight and bounced against our stomachs with each step. At 9 AM in the morning we were already sweating buckets under the merciless sun and we hadn’t even started the climb up the hill. We’d had a brief introduction to Castillo San Felipe de Barajas during our city tour a couple of weeks previous but the structure is so immense that we decided it deserved much more of our attention and time leisurely exploring it and besides, those tunnels looked like fun!
The fortress completely covers the Hill of San Lazaro, a brilliantly strategic site that overlooks both land and sea approaches and is nothing if not imposing in its very size. Begun in 1536 and completed in 1767 it’s the largest, most complex Spanish fort ever built in the New World. Slaves, using pickaxes and shovels first flattened the highest knob on the hill, no mean feat in itself, and then commenced with building the garrison from the top down. The original portion of the work which included constructing the “Old Fort” should have taken five years, but the governor’s unmerciful schedule finished it in a year; the number of slave deaths went unrecorded. Using rectangular blocks gouged from both the coral reefs offshore and from a quarry nearby (manned by slaves and unfortunates who had been sentenced to hard labor by the ongoing Inquisitional Tribunals) they eventually covered the hillsides with ramps and walls, sentry stations, watchtowers and bell-towers, weapons plazas, ramparts for cannon and artillery, etc. Also built were the structures needed to maintain those 500 troops at any one time such as a central kitchen, laundry, hospital, foundry and huge cisterns to collect water during the rainy season in preparation for the times of drought.
And then there were the miles of labyrinthine tunnels throughout the hill, many dug by Welsh miners brought over especially for the task. There are only a few that are open to the public now but it’s not hard to experience a rat in a maze feeling and sense of disorientation when one takes a wrong turn. The tunnels were used for moving and storing provisions (food, weapons, and gunpowder) as well as repositioning troops or even evacuation/retreat, if ever needed, through a fortified exit at the base of the Castillo. They were structured so that the acoustics allow for discrete sounds, such as footfalls or verbal commands and alerts by ringing bells with pre-arranged codes, that carry through the intersecting tunnels.
We had to applaud the strategic placement of the castle where the land adjoining the Hill of San Lazaro could aid the Spanish most in their acquisition and safeguarding of the New World’s plunder from those (also!) avaricious pirates. Residing at the base of the castle was a “hospital” for lepers where treatment consisted solely of prayer and whose location was avoided by all who feared the dreaded flesh-eating disease believed to be caused by demons. The area surrounding the castle on the three sides was a mixture of lowlands and hillocks which were frequently flooded by seasonally heavy rains. An elevated roadway connected this inhospitable region to the castle and served as an avenue of supply; it was useless to attackers as the road was well protected by the fort’s cannons.
Fetid swamps, lying to either side of the roadway, populated by swarms of mosquitos and carrying malaria and yellow fever that had been introduced to the New World by the African slaves, further hindered the enemy. An army weakened by disease, exhaustion and thirst was an easier foe for the Spanish to vanquish. On the seaward approach three stone causeways, connecting the Castillo to the walled city it defended, were intended to be destroyed by gunpowder to thwart the enemy in the event of an attack. These heavily guarded entry points were the only means to access the bastion.
The entire massive fortress stands as a testament to Spanish tenacity and genius. The geometry of the Castillo was fifty years in advance of that practiced in Europe; a full half century would elapse before fortifications on the continent would rival those in Cartagena. The Castillo itself was actually seven defensive structures built over time with overlapping fields of fire. Should an attacker actually breach one of the outer parameters they would find themselves confronted with enfiladed fire coming from two or more of the remaining six fortifications. It was a death trap waiting to ensnare any adversary foolhardy enough to accept the challenge.
Three hours later with the sun at its zenith, our faces sweat-streaked and flushed under our hats and our water bottles emptied, we walked down the hill. Our awe at what the Spanish had accomplished in the building of Castillo San Felipe de Barajas had only grown. The fortress, along with the old City of Cartagena well deserves its 1984 recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is well worth a lengthy and leisurely exploration.
By Anita and Richard
Pingback: Cartagena’s Castillo San Felipe de Barajs – Neverending Everywhere
Lovely photos of an intriguing travel destination.
I’m putting Colombia on my future travel destinations list and your blog looks like a great resource for those of us who’d like to visit Cartagena.
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We’re so glad you enjoyed the photos. We loved our time in Cartagena and may have to return to Colombia at some point to see some of the many other beautiful areas in this amazing country.
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Such an enjoyable history lesson and your photos are remarkable. I really enjoyed your post!
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Thanks, Marilyn. As you’ve probably guessed we love delving into the history when we visit a ruin and will happily listen to all the segments of an audio tour. This fortress was remarkable and it was fun for us to listen to the work and ingenuity that went into building this castle.
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What an interesting post about Cartagena! And so full of new details …for example who knew that the Welsh miners were involved in building that fort? It’s surprising the contribution they’ve made to tunnel engineering and excavation around the world.
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The self-guided audio tour was a wealth of information and contained many details and human-interest stories that weren’t found in any of the online research we did and probably not in a regular tour either! And, I have to admit, we were geeky enough that we were each jotting down notes on our maps!
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The Castillo looks amazing. Quite a feat to build and so much remains to give one a real sense of its magnitude and history. I can see why you felt it deserved more attention and another visit.
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You’re right about the Castillo being amazing. It’s condition is very similar to what it was 500 years ago except that most of the tunnels have been blocked off or gated to prevent trespassing and are prone to flooding. It’s interesting to note that as much exists under the castillo in the hill itself as tunnels and storage rooms as the structures seen above ground.
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Fascinating! The Spanish were so superior in their military strategy during this period, but the use of advanced geometric principles on display here is amazing. Testimony, too, that the structures are all in great shape after hundreds of years.
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The military ingenuity, strategic planning and engineering are astounding. Any approaches to the fortress were covered from several angles and the Spanish could easily repel attacks.
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HELLO ANITA & DICK
I AM SO GLAD THAT THE BOTH OF YOU ARE ENJOYING AND EXPLORING OUR BEAUTIFUL WORLD.
TERIE AND I ARE STILL PLANNING ON RETIREMENT IN 13 MONTHS. FREDDY WILL GRAUDATE THIS
MAY. EVERYTHING IS STILL ON TRACK. MISS BOTH OF YOU. LET’S STAY IN TOUCH.
TAKE CARE. FRED
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Retirement and full-time travel are definitely a perfect fit for us and we’re looking forward to you getting a chance to experience both of these too! Check your email for a longer letter and we’ll be in touch!
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Thanks for explaining the rich history of the fortress!
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The audio tour of the Castillo was fascinating and filled with many interesting tidbits about the site’s complicated history. It was hard to decide what to include and what to leave out when we were writing this post!
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Wow, that really is an amazing historical engineering feat and still so well preserved….lovely!
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You’d love this, Noel. The castillo is a photographer’s dream; a beautiful structure of many levels with enough angles and shadows to delight any artist!
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Happy New Year! I was impressed with your fortitude (pun, pun) in leisurely exploring the Castillo. I am longing for some sun and warmth. We have had lots of snow in Montana and inbetween lots of very cold temperatures. I can’t travel right now as I am a granny nanny for my now 4 almost 5 mo. old grandson, Luca James. I am loving watching him grow and change every day. Thanks for your informative and entertaining blog.
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Thanks Karen for your kind comments. Having lived in Montana for many years (Missoula, Billings, Butte) we know about extreme cold weather. In Cartagena it was the opposite as both the heat and humidity are high and demand some “fortitude!”
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This is so fascinating. They appeared to be way ahead of their time and understood strategic location. I find it interesting that a leper hospital was built near the fortress. Did you read about any of the battles that took place there? I wonder if they were always successful in battle? I can’t imagine that anyone would ever attack them. I always look forward to your posts and I learn something new every time. Thanks.
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There were a few attacks that we read about but the only successful attack was in 1697 against the old fort. However, once building resumed and the site was completed the very size of the Castillo intimidated would-be attackers. In 1816 during the wars for the independence of Cartagena, the Spanish themselves lay siege against the city and the fortress. Rather than surrender the patriots starved to death. The Spanish victory was short-lived however as Cartagena was finally able to declare its independence in 1821.
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This is very interesting. Great pictures. We really enjoyed this post.
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Thanks Hugh. The whole fortress was so enormous that taking photos was a challenge to try to convey its size and complexity!
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Great post. We didn’t do the climb but I do remember the fortress. Your two have more energy and stamina than me. Good to see what I would have seen. The history is always so amazing.
Happy travels,
Suzi
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It’s too bad you didn’t do the climb (it only hurt for awhile!) because the ingenuity and military planning behind this huge fortress were amazing and it was easy to see why the Castillo was such a formidable site. Glad that we could share our explorations with you!
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Your travel posts with pictures, facts, and your personal thoughts/feelings are always interesting and gives us a glimpse of other places, cultures that many of us never heard of. Thanks,
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Thanks Ann. We have a lot of fun digging into the history and stories behind the dry and basic facts. For us, travel has become intertwined with learning and we love to share what we’ve learned in our posts!
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